Psalms 19 - Introduction

Note: Throughout this commentary God's Name is represented as YHWH in accordance with the Hebrew text. LXX represented it as kurios (‘Lord'). It is in fact a name that was seen as so sacred that no one ever pronounced it. Thus how to do so has been forgotten. Yahweh is probably the nearest best guess, although others suggest Yohweh. Jehovah is a corruption of it, which arose from the fact that the Jews put the vowel signs of adonai (Lord) to the consonants YHWH so that (to a Hebraist) the name was unpronounceable. The reader would then read it as adonai.

Psalms 19 .

Heading.

‘For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.'

This Psalm is offered to the person responsible for the sacred music, or the choirmaster, and is of the Davidic collection. ‘To (or ‘for') David' may indicate that it was dedicated to David, written for the Davidic house, or even written by David himself.

The Psalm falls into two parts indicating a twofold revelation of God. The first part speaks of His revelation in nature. God is revealed in nature in the fullness of His glory and power, and in this connection He is ‘God' (El), the God of Creation. The second speaks of His revelation through His word, and in this connection He is ‘YHWH', the God of covenant, the One Who instructs His own and is faithful to them. The first part declares His majestic splendour, and His goodness in His overall provision for man, the second His moral beauty and intimate concern for morality in the giving of His Law, His ‘Instruction'. The first calls for worship, the second for responsive obedience.